Generation Gap

This is from a comment on my previous post on Wiscon:

Sadly some of the new concom folks see it as more of a generation gap than anything else. To me, it feels more like a culture clash, but I haven't been able to figure out any further detail. And of course, there's also an element of people in their twenties behaving like people in their twenties.

Yes, I very much got the sense that my problem was about generations -- and me being disregarded because I am getting up there in years. Patrick is Metis and fairly serious about his Native background. He read the note I got from Wiscon and said over and over, "They are disrespecting an elder."

There are cultures, even in the US, that respect elders. But the dominant white culture is not one. Speaking as an elder, I am in favor of valuing the old. I can think of three reasons.

(1) There actually is value in experience. What you learn from experience is different from what you learn out of books or off the Internet. One kind of learning does not replace the other. It's a good idea to have both.

(2) The old may well have achieved something with their lives. The time and hard work they've put in should be respected.

(3) Finally, the old are vulnerable. Every human should be respected, but maybe we ought to give vulnerable people some extra respect. It will make them feel good -- and help protect them.

Now, if someone is old and a jerk, they don't deserve respect beyond the minimum we give everyone. Pity, maybe.

The dominant white culture tends to dismiss the old. They are seen as out of date and useless. They no longer work. The bosses can't make money off them. (Actually, the old often work, though it's often unpaid work. They care for family members. They do volunteer work that working adults don't have time for. I've worked for a lot of nonprofits. Volunteer work is important, as is family care.)

I have been spending a fair amount of time thinking about my life and what I've achieved, and I'm not always happy with my achievements. One of the things I am proud of, more or less, is writing for decades about prejudice and against prejudice. I have always been a feminist writer, and I have been an affirmative action writer. When Wiscon ignores or dismisses what I've done, it feels painful.